aesc | reading

This morning U and I went to chase rare migrants around North Lake in Golden Gate Park. Driving out Fulton reminded me just how enormous that Park is! Anyway, we parked about 7:45 and walked clockwise around the Lake, then retracing out steps from the northeast corner. There were quite a few birders and photographers looking for the Chestnut-sided Warbler and the Blackpoll Warbler that had been reported there, and while we dipped on the Blackpoll we found some folks who'd found the Chestnut-sided and got some diagnostic if not wonderful looks. I'd see Chestnut-sided before - in winter they have an amazing hi-viz yellow-green head - and was more excited by the Black-headed Grosbeak that I heard and that was later seen by others. ( The first list: )

Back in the East Bay we stopped at Emeryville Marina to look for the Palm Warbler that's being reported. (Like so many warblers they are hilariously misnamed: they breed in Canada.) Some folks were on it when we arrived but I think the photographer pushed too close and the bird flew off. We wandered around for a while without luck, and when U said she was going to make a final loop I said I'd go back to where it had been when we arrived, and there it was: rufous crown, yellow below, and bobbing tail. So we both got pretty good looks. ( Another little list: )

Again, we'd seen this bird before at the edge of Berkeley Meadow, and I was more impressed by the long lines of Brown Pelicans and the Osprey fishing just off shore. What a wonderful morning!

seleneheart

Title: A Thread of Comfort
Fandom: All Creatures Great and Small
Pairing/Characters: Tristan Farnon/James Herriot
Rating: T
Summary: Instead of sleeping in the tiny bed assigned to him, Tristan crawls into James' bed with him.
Warnings: none
Notes: Written for

embraidery as part of the

raremaleslashex. This fic is a bit of a mix of the books and the 2020 series. Beta by

delanach

On AO3: A Thread of Comfort

On

raselgethi: A Thread of Comfort

mood lethargic
music Ryan Adams - Out of the Woods

siria

As may have been obvious from some of my recent posts, thanks to a chain of events involving Noah Wyle's winsome brown eyes, I ended up watching a lot of ER this summer and writing fic for it. However, I've also spent a lot of time grappling with the fact that a lot of plot happens to my favourite problematic dink, John Carter, in the course of 15 seasons. Some of it is contradictory, some of it is unclear, and the existing ER wiki resources just aren't done with my needs in mind, i.e. "I want to write fic about Carter and his feeeeeelings."

So below the cut are the notes I took when I rewatched the show. I'm posting them here so that I don't lose them and also who knows, maybe someone else will find this useful?

( The Carter File )

sage

books
Pawn in Frankincense (The Lymond Chronicles #4) by Dorothy Dunnett. 1969. cw: graphic violence, child abuse and murder, slavery, animal harm and death, going cold turkey off opium. Quite the adventure drama.

The Summer War by Naomi Novik. 2025. Novella. Would have made a pretty amazing novel, tbh. I loved the first 2/3rds, though I wish, as always with NN, that there had been more to the ending. I hope YT brings some fic for it.

yarning & etsy & usps

I went to yarn group Sunday and had a good time. Also, I cut my hair right before yarn group and I got nice comments on it, so that was extra happy-making. Then I showed off pics of my soccer ball-sized globe (and complained about the pattern not giving accurate Mediterranean or Australia, doh). Also worked on a navy blue kickbunny, which sold Monday afternoon right after I got back from the post office, where I was shipping a tan kickbunny to a customer, a blue bunny to Kitten Academy, and the globe to Niece, along with a moon and a bday card with a bright happy sun on it, so it was all of a theme. But dear god the increase in USPS prices! Nearly $3 more, and (since they moved to PA) KA isn't even as far! At least one was a business expense and another was prepaid by the customer. (This is why I don't offer free shipping on kickbunnies.) Anyway, I'm working on a turquoise kickbunny now and feeling super grateful that my shoulder is functional again. Knock wood.

yuletide FYIs
Here is the link to the Noms Coordination Station. And here is the Noms Spreadsheet, where you can skim fandoms to see what's been nommed while we wait for the tagset to open. I replaced my nom for Katee Roberts' Dark Olympus series with Shakespeare & Jacobean Theatre RPF bc Will/Kit(/Annie) still owns my heart. And I changed my character noms for The Shadow of the Leviathan series by Robert Jackson Bennett. Noms close in the wee hours of Friday, US time. I still have no idea what I want to offer/request, but at least I've done my nominations?

#resist
October 18: No Kings Day 2

I hope you're all doing well and enjoying Fall/Spring wherever you are! <333

mrkinch

People who understand these things thought there might be a lot of migrant movement this morning up on the ridges, so I went very early. I didn't find exceptional migration activity, just not very satisfactory views of three warblers and so many Hermit Thrushes ebird made me explain myself. Still, my list is quite long and I found some interesting birds: two American White Pelicans swimming on the reservoir; an American Kestrel, only here in winter; several Great Horned Owls, one of them a juv making their terrible eeping call; a Say's Phoebe, first since January and that was the only one all last winter; a singing California Thrasher, Fall recrudescence at its finest; a flock of Cedar Waxwings overhead; and a chipping Fox Sparrow. The sighting I had to explain (wish I could carry a camera) was an Olive-sided Flycatcher! They should be long gone, but there they were, making the "pip pip pip" call before dawn. On return, to my surprise I saw them atop a very tall snag, their "vest" clearly visible. ( The list: )

It was getting hot by 9 am (I'm glad I don't live out there!) and I was, for a change, reasonably happy to go home.

mrkinch

It was a beautiful morning. There were Golden-crowned Sparrows in the spot that seems to attract all the sparrows, and Fox Sparrows at the junction of Lower and Upper Packrat Trails. Then the lower trail was very quiet until I neared Jewel Lake. The frustrating fun was at the Lake, four or five Townsend's Warblers, a Black-throated Gray Warbler, a Wilson's Warbler that I didn't get a very good look at, a Yellow-rumped Warbler we only heard, and a nondescript mystery warbler that none of us could decide about. Fun moment was when a Downy Woodpecker landed in full view on a nearby snag. So tiny! ( The list: )

U and Chris had a somewhat different list on Upper Packrat, including a Yellow Warbler and a Cassin's Vireo! I am envious.

mrkinch

It was clear before dawn and stayed cool til I left, an almost perfect morning. A front had come through a few days ago and I was hoping it had brought warblers but it did not to this trail, at least. What it probably did bring were four new arrivals: a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, a Hermit Thrush, and zonos, two White-crowned Sparrows, which I don't often see there, and two flocks of Golden-crowned Sparrows. We weren't expecting the sparrows for several more weeks. Interestingly, just after I texted U and Chris about the zonos I saw U's email that she'd had a Golden-crown on her suet that morning. I guess they are really here. ( The list: )

Also fun were several coveys of California Quail; last visit I neither heard nor saw any at all. The first flock was just down slope from the crest, so I stayed there quite a while as the sun rose and the Quail foraged quietly. As often there was a small cottontail with them.

siria

( Joan of Arc (1900) )

( The Ninth Guest )

( Thunderbolts )

mrkinch

I'd kind of planned to go sit on the bench at the top of Lower Packrat for a while, but the succumbed to the lure of possibilities at Jewel Lake (despite the chipping/occ chainsaw noise). I found nothing terribly exciting there, a Warbling Vireo and a Townsend's Warbler, but the Red-breasted Nuthatches were surprisingly numerous and loud, and when the sun came out the activity exploded. I heard a Swainson's Thrush and two Western Flycatchers on the way, and possibly a Wilson's Warbler, though just one chip so I did not report it. Surprise of the morning was two Northern House Wrens... ah, just twigged to why they were right there. Stacks of brush are perfect habitats for NHWR, I saw this a few years ago up in the eucalyptus grove along Nimitz Way, and the chipping operation has not gotten as far as the road across from the Lake. The wrens were buzzing loudly and even singing a bit. But those lovely piles won't be there long. ( The list: )

Rain has disappeared from the forecast, big surprise.

sage

books
still reading Pawn in Frankincense by Dorothy Dunnett. I haven't had the time to really focus on it, so I've been reading Kirk/Spock longfic.

yarning
I finished the crocheted globe for Niece and it looks pretty good. Definitely good enough for a child turning 5, though it's a little unevenly stuffed in a couple of places & I can't get it to shift. Am sad I had to miss yarn group this week, but yesterday I made a 3in diameter moon to go with the Earth. Hopefully it'll all fit in the box.

Yuletide
I nommed:
- The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty. (Amina, Dalila, Raksh, and Jamal)
- Shadow of the Leviathan by Robert Jackson Bennett (Ana, Din, Kepheus)
- A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher (Cordelia, Hester, Richard, Penelope)
- Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher (Anja, Snow, Grayling)
- Dark Olympus series by Katee Robert (Icarus, Poseidon, Hades, Penelope)

sadly, Batman: Wayne Family Adventures and Rivers of London both look too large to nom this year, if I'm gauging them right. Drat!

#resist
October 18: No Kings Day #2

I hope you're all doing well! <333

mrkinch

Today was the third of three clear, hot days this week, good weather for getting out there and back early. I was at the top of the rise by dawn and by the time I was there again two and a half hours later it was warmer than I like. Two warblers, a Townsend's and a Yellow, were the only incoming migrants. Migrants I thought had left were Western Wood-pewee, Western Flycatcher, Swainson's Thrush, and two Black-headed Grosbeaks who seemed to be heading west. The Western Tanager I think was just passing through. I was surprised to see a single American White Pelican on San Pablo Reservoir; I think they're around all year now. ( The list: )

There's a chance of rain tomorrow night. I'll believe it when I hear it!

mrkinch

Just me and U today, and I chose to simply walk up the boardwalk and back on the road. Loud neighbors til midnight may not be so bad for most, but for me that's three or four hours of voices in my bedroom. Best moment of the morning came right in the parking lot: our first of season Fox Sparrow! exactly where they often are. If they were only passing through, that spot must send out a "perfect spot for sparrows" vibe. We heard only two Swainson's Thrushes and no Wilson's Warblers, but saw several Townsend's Warblers. Nuthatches were very evident, Pygmy in a couple of places, White-breasted around the bridge at the Lake, and several Red-breasted loudly working trees right beside the trail. Interestingly, no finches at all. ( The list: )

We'd only just started up the road when we heard a Belted Kingfisher rattling, looked up and saw them, too, flying south. We imagine that they came to check out Jewel Lake, found absolutely no fishable open water, and departed forthwith. The lake bed isn't entirely dry yet, but what water there is can't be more than an inch deep, stagnant, and scummy. We're waiting for the rain.

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December 2012

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Page generated Sep. 28th, 2025 08:01 am

in that sweet and peaceful rest

reading

9/27/2025 North Lake SF // Emeryville Marina

Fic: A Thread of Comfort

2541 / The Carter File

What I'm Doing Wednesday

9/23/2025 Inspiration Trail

9/22/2025 Tilden Nature Area

9/20/2025 Inspiration Trail

2540 / Joan of Arc; Thunderbolts

9/18/2025 Tilden Nature Area

What I'm Doing Wednesday

9/17/2025 Inspiration Trail

9/15/2025 Tilden Nature Area

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December 2012

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